Welcome to our first issue of Consulting Matters for 2023. We have refreshed the format and content to share news and views that Consult Australia members won’t find anywhere else.

I’ve been travelling the country to meet with Consult Australia members over the last few months – and while each state has its own story, one common theme is clear. There is a degree of comfort around how the next six months will play out, but far more uncertainty for the second half of 2023.

We are operating in a market of mixed messages. Global recessionary headwinds may be offset by a strong infrastructure pipeline. 

Nation-building projects in transport, energy, disaster recovery, social housing and the Olympic and Commonwealth games, among others, continue to fill workbooks. 

The Defence Strategic Review and renewable energy transition are emerging opportunities (and off the back of the huge success of our Collab X 2023 conference in Canberra with the Department of Defence last week, our new SA and NT Manager Matthew Williams shares his insights in this issue of Consulting Matters).

On the other hand, inflationary pressures, market capacity and skills constraints make doing business more challenging. Many of our members say they are unable to grow because they can’t get the skills they need (read more about our new guide to accessing migrant skills, launched with the Queensland Government this month ).

Consult Australia members must also navigate a highly litigious environment full of crystalising risk.

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers recently suggested Australia is moving into a “polycrisis” era where disparate shocks interact so that “the whole is more overwhelming than the sum of its parts”. 

Our best response? To work together to find solutions that are stronger than the sum of our parts. 

Our opportunity in 2023 is to collaborate with government in genuine partnership to repair broken procurement and contracting models, to reallocate risk and reduce disputation, to digitise and decarbonise at speed, and to grow our skills base. Continuing our leadership through the Consult Australia Champions of Change remains a critical part of our work to support diversity and inclusion across the industry – our 2022 Progress Report, published last week, provides a timely reflection through this International Women’s Day as we consider as an industry how we #EmbraceEquity.

When we look back on 2023, will our legacy be a list of projects delivered on time and budget? Will it be to deliver broader social, environmental and economic benefits? Or could it also be to lay the foundations for a stronger and more sustainable industry – an industry that is a hub for engineering talent, innovative thinking and global investment?

Helping our industry to coalesce around this ambition is at the heart of our work at Consult Australia – and we will continue that work with passion and persistence over the year ahead. We look forward to collaborating with you.